Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 30, 2015

Lobbying group StudentsFirstNY has emerged as potent political force as it works to extend educational platform of former New York City Mayor Michael R Bloomberg; group has become an effective counterweight to state's teachers unions and has helped to thwart Mayor Bill de Blasio as he seeks to reverse predecessor's policies; group's goals include increasing the number of charter schools and tying teacher evaluations more closely to test scores. MORE

Jul. 29, 2015

Frank Bruni Op-Ed column expresses alarm at some of observations about lives of American high school students contained in Denise Pope, Maureen Brown and Sarah Miles book Overloaded and Underprepared; points in particular to students' lack of sleep as worrying problem, which also serves to encapsulate great problem of relentless pressure students face. MORE

Jul. 28, 2015

Memo released by New York City Education Dept says former Teachers College Community School principal Jeanene Worrell-Breeden, who committed suicide on April 17, acknowledged that she forged answers on students’ state English exams because students had not finished tests. MORE

Jul. 27, 2015

Results of several dozen standardized tests taken by third graders at prestigious Teachers College Community School in Harlem are invalidated due to improprieties by principal Jeanene Worrell-Breeden, who committed suicide in April after allegations were leveled. MORE

Jul. 27, 2015

Editorial submits that Virgina court case over whether transgender high school student Gavin Grimm has right to use men's restroom at school is latest incident in growing national debate; contends ruling in favor of Gavin would be significant bolster of civil rights and rebuff to discrimination; calls for Department of Education to issue nationwide school restroom guidelines (Series: Transgender Today). MORE

Jul. 21, 2015

New York State Education Dept releases guidelines on how school districts should accommodate transgender students; suggestions include using pronouns students prefer and allowing them to use bathrooms that match their gender identities. MORE

Jul. 17, 2015

Senate approves, 81-17, revised version of No Child Left Behind Act, signature Bush-era education law, week after House passes its own version; both bills return some key power to local governments but differ over role of federal government and funding allocations. MORE

Jul. 17, 2015

New York State Education Dept says 144 underperforming schools, almost half of which are in New York City, will enter receivership; new law puts pressure on de Blasio administration to quickly show improvement at worst schools. MORE

Jul. 15, 2015

Turkey's Constitutional Court overturns law that was set to close thousands of preparatory schools linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen; legislation had been led by Prime Min Recep Tayyup Erdogan, who has long been engaged in power struggle with Gulen, accusing him of attempting to topple Erdogan's administration. MORE

Jul. 14, 2015

Editorial, citing growing visibility of sexual assault on college campuses, points to growing body of research suggesting that providing children with quality sex education, along with teaching communication and emotion management to younger students, is effective way to reduce sexual assault later in life; hold that schools, state governments and families alike need to understand importance of early education about sexual assault. MORE

Jul. 12, 2015

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column praises work of Valentino Deng, former Sudanese refugee who has returned to Marial Bai, South Sudan, to build high school, funded by royalties from his book What Is the What, written with Dave Eggers; notes that Deng is firmly of the believe that education is the key to addressing the young nation's problems. MORE

Jul. 12, 2015

Op-Ed article by Jon Grinspan likens use of YouTube and podcasts as supplemental learning resources for students outside school hours to how students in 19th-century America did significant amount of self-teaching; notes that it is hard to instill habits of self-teaching given that independent learning is often arrived at independently, but suggests young people can be given tools to facilitate discovery. MORE

Jul. 10, 2015

New York State Education Dept awards Questar Assessments five-year, $44 million contract to develop assessment tests for students in third though eighth grades. MORE

Jul. 10, 2015

Federal Judge Kenneth M Karas approves $4.48 million settlement from Pine Bush Central School District in upstate New York to five Jewish students who say they were victims of anti-Semitism at the schools. MORE

Jul. 9, 2015

Both houses of Congress have begun efforts to overhaul No Child Left Behind education law, focusing on much-criticized high-stakes testing and punishments doled out to schools that do not measure up; proposed means of altering federal involvement in schools differ greatly, with House passing partisan bill opposed by Democrats and Senate seeking middle ground. MORE

Jul. 9, 2015

New York City Dept of Education announces that it will fire John Dewey High School principal Kathleen Elvin after yearlong investigation reveals grade-fixing scam behind rise in graduation rates. MORE

Jul. 2, 2015

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls for revision of how city funds teacher pensions in light of $200 million in budget cuts for public schools and plans to eliminate 1,400 jobs. MORE

Jul. 2, 2015

Number of New York City public school students required to take summer classes or being held back is down compared to previous five years. MORE

Jun. 30, 2015

Colorado Supreme Court rules against Douglas County voucher program that allowed parents to use taxpayer dollars to send their children to private schools, including secular ones, saying it violates state Constitution. MORE

Jun. 30, 2015

Pine Bush Central School District in upstate New York settles civil rights lawsuit filed by five current and former students who claim to have suffered years of anti-Semitic bullying; agrees to pay $4.48 million and make changes to curriculum and training of staff and teachers. MORE

Jun. 29, 2015

New York State legislators approve law allowing teachers and administrators to discuss certain standardized test questions, but only those publicly released by state; educators had been barred from discussing questions by signing confidentiality agreements. MORE

Jun. 27, 2015

Kansas court rules against parts of state school funding law, saying it violates state constitution. MORE

Jun. 27, 2015

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement that Lunar New Year will officially be placed on calendar as public school holiday was culmination of decade-long campaign by handful of officials and Asian-American advocates. MORE

Jun. 27, 2015

Alumni of Great Neck South High School in Long Island, where Confederate flag was once featured prominently on football team's logo, recall how students came together to redesign logo after realizing what Confederate flag stood for. MORE

Jun. 26, 2015

New York State lawmakers approve much-delayed, wide-ranging deal that includes four-year extension of rent regulations, education and other affairs. MORE

Jun. 26, 2015

Unscientific survey of New York City schools days finds great variety of items in lost and found as summer vacation beckons. MORE

Jun. 25, 2015

Elementary school students in New York City will be served breakfast in classrooms starting in fall; new program, part of $78.5 billion budget deal, ends 10 years in which students had to arrive early to cafeteria in order to take advantage of free breakfasts. MORE

Jun. 24, 2015

Thousands of French high school students sign petition on social media site protesting a question that appeared on national exam to earn high school degree; students contend use of words like 'coping,' English word that has no direct translation in French, made parts of test incomprehensible and unfair. MORE

Jun. 24, 2015

Education Sec Arne Duncan announces that Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York and West Virginia will have waivers for requirements under No Child Left Behind law renewed. MORE

Jun. 24, 2015

New York Gov Andrew M Cuomo and state legislators agree to several stop-gap measures on unresolved issues; reach tentative deal extending rent regulations in New York City, as well as 421-a tax incentive program for affordable housing and mayoral control of New York City schools; Cuomo says he may act unilaterally on some controversial matters. MORE

Jun. 24, 2015

Former Newark, NJ, schools superintendent Cami Anderson, in interview day after her resignation, laments failed attempts to reform city's public schools; says debate became personalized after longtime friend Mayor Cory A Booker resigned to become United States senator. MORE

Jun. 24, 2015

Many New York City public school classrooms lack air-conditioning, problem that can lead to more absences, reduced productivity and even medical emergencies toward end of school year; complex safety regulations and contractual obligations make it difficult for schools to install and maintain systems. MORE

Jun. 23, 2015

Newark schools superintendent Cami Anderson resigns after often stormy four-year tenure; Anderson, adviser and longtime friend to former New Jersey Mayor Cory A Booker and appointed by Gov Chris Christie, alienated many parents with her reorganization plan, One Newark, which ultimately led to school closings, mass firings of teachers and principals and more students in charter schools. MORE

Jun. 23, 2015

Teaching experience is not required for those employees who have been hired to grade Common Core tests, prompting many concerns from educators. MORE

Jun. 23, 2015

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio's administration is poised to add Lunar New York to city's public school calendar; move will allow city's Asian children to celebrate holiday with families without tarnishing their attendance records. MORE

Jun. 21, 2015

Keila Merino, one of nation's top ultramarathon runners, finds challenge of running equal to that of her job teaching underprivileged fourth-graders at Public School X114 in Bronx, where most students are poor, Hispanic and often still learning English. MORE

Jun. 20, 2015

Common Core requirement that high school English classes include more non-fiction has resulted in creative and sometimes strained pairings of literary selections with thematically-matched nonfiction works; requirement is based on argument that students are ill-prepared for non-fiction reading they will encounter in college and at work. MORE

Jun. 19, 2015

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announces end to decade-old ban on deep fried foods in public schools; move is considered unwelcome reversal by health advocates and school nutritionists. MORE

Jun. 19, 2015

New York State Legislature passes bill requiring seventh graders to be vaccinated for meningitis. MORE

Jun. 18, 2015

Memo From Europe; Germany's Bavarian school district debates proposal that all eighth and ninth graders must visit former concentration camp or Munich center documenting Nazi crimes; some question feasibility of explaining Holocaust history to new immigrant students while others maintain visits are most convincing method. MORE

Jun. 17, 2015

Editorial praises Massachusetts for improvements in its lowest-performing school districts, citing mill town of Lawrence, where graduation rates have risen from 52 percent to 67 percent; holds state's receivership process, which pursued incremental change rather than overhaul, and which sought strong partnerships with parents, community leaders and teachers, presents strong model for reform across nation. MORE

Jun. 16, 2015

Op-Ed article by Prof Jordan Ellenberg warns that states that have discarded Common Core education standards are simply replacing them with essentially same standards, due to fact that standardized testing is required as part of federal funding; notes change is largely cosmetic, abandoning Common Core brand while keeping in place many of its methods; suggests true change can only come by focusing on attracting the best teachers. MORE

Jun. 16, 2015

Joe Nocera Op-Ed column praises recommendations made by Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness, headed by Prof Deborah Loewenberg Ball, for establishing effective teacher evaluation system; laments that legislation that would have put council's recommendations in place failed to pass Michigan Legislature, but urges other states to learn from what Ball proposed. MORE

Jun. 14, 2015

Flag rugby is growing in popularity among New York City middle school students thanks to organization Play Rugby USA, which organizes annual Rugby Cup; many students from IS 392 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, which has strong boys and girls teams, have found sport to be path to higher education and other pursuits outside rough neighborhood. MORE

Jun. 12, 2015

New York State Senate votes unanimously to make first day of Asian lunar calendar a holiday for New York City schools; State Assembly will consider similar bill. MORE

Jun. 12, 2015

New York Gov Andrew M Cuomo says he is attempting to play mediator by getting Senate to continue rent regulations and Assembly to approve tax credit intended to broaden access to private and sectarian schools. MORE

Jun. 11, 2015

Quirks in New York City's academic calendar have resulted in proliferation of conferences, so-called clerical half-days, testing and other disruptions that have given students significant amount of free time as summer vacation approaches; events are helpful for teachers but have sent some parents scrambling to arrange child care. MORE

Jun. 11, 2015

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column examines lives and experiences of two transgendered youths, who attend Academy for Young Writers in Brooklyn; notes school offers lessons in acceptance for such youths; holds national conversation started by emergence of Caitlyn Jenner must transition beyond trivialities if nation is to provide tolerance and understanding for group of people who have long suffered on margins. MORE

Each year, we put out a call for college application essays about money, work and social class. This year, we picked seven — about pizza, parental sacrifice, prep school students, discrimination and deprivation.